“Wind-down: Z1 has been absorbed by NG.CASH and no longer operates as an independent GenZ neobank in Brazil.”
Founded 2019 as a GenZ neobank for Brazilian teens (a Step/Greenlight analog for LatAm), Z1 built a digital account + prepaid card operated under its own Brazilian payment-institution licence (Z1 Instituição de Pagamento Ltda.). After four years of growth backed by Kaszek, Homebrew and The Chainsmokers' Mantis, the company merged into NG.CASH — the larger GenZ digital account in LatAm — and migrated its user base rather than continue as a standalone brand. The z1.app site now redirects users to onboard on NG.CASH.
Z1 discloses Z1 Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Z1 does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Z1 Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house).
Z1 processes payments through Z1 Instituição de Pagamento (self-operated) and Pix / Open Finance (self-operated). Disclosed money-movement rails: Pix.
Z1 connects to bank accounts through Open Finance Brasil (self-operated via Z1 IP).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Z1's stack: Payments / PSP (Z1 Instituição de Pagamento (self-operated) and Pix / Open Finance (self-operated)); Money movement (Pix); Banking / BaaS (Z1 Instituição de Pagamento Ltda. (in-house)); Open banking (Open Finance Brasil (self-operated via Z1 IP)).
Z1 was founded by João Pedro Thompson, Thiago Achatz, Mateus Craveiro and Sophie Secaf and is founded in 2019, headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.
Z1 has raised $26.2M in total (latest round: Venture Round, 2023).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Z1 and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.